kontaktmag | modern living - forward thinking» design innovation

Publisher at Large: Lego and Architecture

Don Crossland — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:47:35 +0000

When I was young, my go to toy was a big box of Legos. A mish-mash of colors, shapes and sizes of bricks were at my disposal. I had corner pieces, bricks with holes for wheels and even slanted pieces for roofs. If I wanted a toy my mom wouldn’t buy for me, I would [...]

Palazzina Grazzi on the Grand Canal

Don Crossland — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:17:29 +0000

For his first hotel designed in Italy, French designer, Philippe Starck, scored the Palazzina Grassi. The newest hotel in the heart of Venice, Italy is located on the Grand Canal, right next to the famed Palazzo Grassi. The façade is a classical 16th-century shell, behind which generations of noble and haute-bourgeois families lived and several [...]

Publisher at Large: The Liège-Guillemins Railway Station

Don Crossland — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:29:54 +0000

After spending a week in Belgium it was time to venture out. The location of Ghent made many destinations possible including Paris and Amsterdam. But family comes first and it was time to visit relatives in Germany and introduce them to my (very) new fiancé. So we went to Brussels to catch the train to [...]

Airsquare – Shelving Out of the (flat) Box

Don Crossland — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:53:54 +0000

The cube makes a great building block, and a better shelving structure. We’ve seen them before using various materials and even more varied configurations. The Airsquare designed by Oliver Schick in Germany has a cool factor not achieved by the previous versions (with the exception of the Cubitec, but not completely modular). The cubes are made [...]

Renamed Burj Dubai Opens as Burj Khalifa

Don Crossland — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:21:54 +0000

On January 4, 2010 the tallest structure in the world was opened with fireworks and fanfare. One of the biggest surprises was the last-minute announcement that the name of the tower was changed to Burj Khalifa in honor of the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. What was [...]

merzproject Merges with Shepley Bulfinch

staff — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:09:35 +0000

National architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch of Boston and merzproject of Phoenix announced their merger earlier today. The merger unites Shepley Bulfinch, one of the country’s leading design firms, and merzproject, named a 2009 Design Vanguard firm by Architectural Record. Starting with immediate effect, the Phoenix office will be known as merzproject – a studio of [...]

Publisher at Large: Belga Queen

Don Crossland — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:09:11 +0000

At first glance, Ghent, Belgium might not seem to be a great city for the modern design enthusiast. It is clearly an old city steeped with history. However, while the city has worked to preserve it’s history and especially the medieval look of the city center, most of the preservation is of the building façades. [...]

Blu Dot’s Real Good Experiment

Don Crossland — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:37:38 +0000

November 4th & 5th, Blu Dot launched the Real Good Experiment. The experiment was inspired by the tendency for New Yorkers to leave stuff out on the sidewalk they no longer want and other New Yorkers tendencies to snatch up said items rather quickly. The Real Good Experiment involved Blu Dot to put out 25 [...]

Publisher at Large: Design Market-Ghent, Belgium

Don Crossland — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:21:30 +0000

This is the first of many posts of my travels to Belgium and Germany. I am in the city of Ghent located 53 km northwest of Brussels. Ghent is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe and the history shows. I am staying at the Ghent River Hotel in the heart of the city. Just [...]

Michelberger Hotel set to Open in Berlin

Don Crossland — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:04:57 +0000

Hotel veterans might say newcomer Tom Michelberger is playing at being a hotelier which would be fine by him as “play” is a central theme to his brand new hotel. The “first” Michelberger Hotel is set to open in September near the Oberbaum bridge over the river Spree in Berlin, Germany. The entire team behind the [...]